Tobias Reifland

“I love the elegant, dark and warm sound of the viola. I feel at home with this sound, it's my voice.”

When Tobias Reifland joined the viola section of the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 2022, he already had experience as an orchestral musician – as principal violist of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. He had taken up this position during the coronavirus pandemic, when concert life was radically restricted: “No audience, only live streams, programmes with smaller line-ups, and not the standard repertoire. My start with the Berliner Philharmoniker was under completely different circumstances. Here I was allowed to join a normal orchestra.” Right at the beginning, this “normality” also included a major tour of America, which gave Tobias Reifland the opportunity to get to know his colleagues better and quickly integrate himself into the orchestra.

Tobias Reifland has been playing the viola since the age of seven and chose it because of its dark, warm sound. He studied at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, and completed his training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under Roland Glassl with a post-master certificate. He gained further musical inspiration at the Kronberg Academy, the Detmold Summer Academy, and the Accademia Musicale di Chigiana in Siena as well as in masterclasses with Atar Arad, Barbara Westphal and Tabea Zimmermann. Born in Stuttgart, he has won several prizes at international competitions, including the International Max Rostal Competition, the International Anton Rubinstein Competition and the Hindemith International Viola Competition.